Fear of mass support motivates critics of new Pope, says archbishop

Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 26, 2005 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Archbishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, said this week many of the attacks and criticisms against the new Pontiff are due to fear in some circles of the mass support for John Paul II and Benedict XVI evident during recent weeks.

The Argentinean archbishop said the media could not understand how the former Pope and the current one brought together millions of people. “They are attacking because they don’t want him to continue winning people over,” he told Radio 10.

Referring to what some people think of Benedict XVI, he noted that, “The problem with revolutionary and conservative is that he is supposed to be one way for some things and another way for others.”

Ratzinger the cardinal “had a very tough ministry” as he had to “put questions of faith and ideas in order,” and for this reason he is known as “conservative.” “But he had to do things that were not only his own opinion, but also that of the Pope and of the cardinals with whom he consulted,” Archbishop Sanchez said.

He also noted that, “Upon becoming Pope, there is a jump in quality, in magnitude,” because in this role “he must announce and bring the message,” and not just mark out the boundaries of doctrine, “and this implies a synthesis of perspectives.”